The New Year
by MidnightSakuraBlossom and SYD
Summary: New Year's is coming up at Bullworth Academy, but it's not exactly the most fun time. With Pete struggling with his feelings for Gary whom may or not like him back, having to prepare for the big celebration with him and Pinky and Algernon, complicated plans behind the scenes, and pranks, there's just no telling what hell will go down that night! DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1 Preperations For The Party

**What better way to start off the new year than with a new fanfiction? After getting off my hiatus, I am back in shape with a new (awesome) computer and ready to tackle some challenges! Let's see how this fanfic turns out in the end – if my writing skills have improved, or decreased, over this time!**

**I like Gary/Pete just as much as Jimmy/Pete or Gary/Jimmy...actually...I really can tolerate ANY Bully pairing that you can possibly spawn. O.o Well, I guess that may be a good thing because I makes for some interesting fanfics. This one will have no more than 5 chapters and has a few background pairings I hope you can spot. This is my first time writing a New Year's theme – wish me luck!**

**Disclaimer: MidnightSakuraBlossom does not own Bully or it's characters.**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**

_**. . .**_

_**The New Year**_

_**Chapter 1; Preparing For The Party**_

_**. . .**_

"Hang the banner somewhat vertically, Gary."

"Shut up! It looks fine, dammit! Now get me that tape before I punch you for your annoying 'criticism'!"

"Hey, there is no need to be so hostile! Headmaster Crabblesnitch told us that we would have to set out differences aside and prepare for the New Year's party, so you have no choice but to listen to my **advice**."

"Petey, I didn't even want to do this manual labor!"

"Someone had to." A feminine voice interjected to the conversation. "But I just don't see how it had to be me, you, Peter, and...ugh...Algernon."

"You people are really annoying the crap out of me! I can't believe we just had to listen to the old man and do this labor!"

"Do you want to mow the lawns as the prefects watch you like a hawk? That Jimmy Hopkins has to do it at least two times a week now."

"Pinky has a point, Gary."

"Just let me hang this thing and we'll talk later!"

If you didn't catch what was going on, the usually boring and screwed up school, Bullworth Academy was finally seeing a little bit of excitement. The year was beginning to wrap up and be behind everyone. And damn, has it ever been chaotic with that new kid coming and stirring up trouble. He has been doing some infamous things with Gary at his side being the puppet master and Pete being forced to by his friends to be a part of the action whether he wanted to or not.

The past few years have been boring around this time. Gary wanted to break the horrible cycle by suggesting to the headmaster that they throw some sort of event at the academy. Perhaps a party and big count down to the end of the year since it was only six days away. And to his surprise, it was accepted...but only on one condition.

He would have to do all of the preparations with a group that Crabblesnitch would choose at random. Gary was not the type of guy to do labor, but he hoped that he could dump off his job on the rest of the group. Unfortunately, his team consisted of: Pete, his girly roommate. Algernon, an easily-scared nerd. And Pinky, a pretty and very spoiled prep. And when he protested about the choice, he was kicked out of the office without a second thought as if Crabblesnitch could care less about his thoughts. Humph. Old people these days...

Gary was instructed to hang banners with words of encouragement (gag), Pete was instructed to hang lights and also fix Gary's careless mistakes, Pinky was instructed to plant some more flowers and help out in the disgusting cafeteria, and Algie was instructed to spread word about the event being held. So everyone was assigned with a job and had no free will, forced to do the aforementioned tasks in between classes and even during lunch. Which was actually reasonable – the food here **sucked**.

Gary hated having do labor and seemingly complained about everything in the world, Algie was never noticed by anyone except his fellow nerds or the bullies who kept sneaking up and giving him wedgies, and Pinky was uttering some choice words for the headmaster for making her ruin her perfect and flawless hands by digging into the earth or preparing sickening food.

Pete was the only one who did not openly complain. No one listened to him, so why should he even bother? Besides, the preparations were soon to be complete and they were all allowed to return back to their dorms at night for rest. And just the fact he was getting to be close to Gary during all of this was...admittedly nice.

Gary wasn't very focused on putting him down in particular and would choose to snap at either Algie or Pinky for the pathetic ways they were doing things. And he could be close to the school's sociopath without worrying anyone wondering why he was staring at the other boy so...mindlessly?

He couldn't really say it out loud without feeling embarrassed, but Pete just knew that he must be falling for Gary even after all that has happened this past year. All of the arguments, verbal and physical abuse, pranks, violence, drama, and insanity, he has come to realize his real feelings. The feelings that he had to hide for...personal reasons, yeah that's it.

He could admit it clearly in his mind that he felt so strongly about Gary regardless of how he treated him. He could live with secretly pining over him and being forced by unknown ways of the world to hide the way he enjoyed being his roommate (despite how annoying of a roommate Gary could be on a daily basis). Whenever Pete would attempt to just say it aloud...whether it be to himself for reassurance or when they were alone and he finally gathered a bit of nerve to open his mouth. Something always either interrupted or he lost that mentioned nerve. It would always conclude with nothing being revealed.

And keeping it a secret would have to become challenging eventually. Pete had read the books (which he was teased of for them being romance novels): secrets always run a person down to the point of which they are not themselves. They hurt especially of a person wants to be able to share it with the world. And in conclusion, they always come out whether it be the hard way or the easy way.

Pete knew he felt this way...his only question was **why**. Why the hell did he feel so strongly if he was always treated badly by Gary and he probably didn't like him in that way because he never made a move. Gary was the type of person to make a move the instant he felt like it. So why hasn't that happened yet? And why did he sometimes stay up late, watching the sociopath sleep, and wonder what his thoughts were.

Well, he was just thankful that in the morning, Gary would never prompt the question of why he sensed someone watching him at night. Pete had luck on his side after all, obviously. Because that would be oh so difficult to explain reasonably.

"Petey, snap out of dreamland and grab the ladder!"

"Huh?" The shock of hearing Gary's slightly-panicked tone brought him from his thoughts. He came back to earth to see that the ladder he had been holding was indeed starting to shift around. Pete's eyes widened. "Oh God!"

Even if his mind was at an inward war over whether to just let Gary fall or not, Pete's body reacted instinctively and his arms rushed out to hold the ladder once again. He couldn't believe he had done that though...Gary probably deserved to at least feel some physical pain...

Right? **Right...?**

Gary glanced down at Pete's apologetic face glaring, irritated with the way that he had been acting unfocused lately. "Pay more attention to what you're doing! If I fall now, I won't get a chance to complete my own goals with an injury!"

"It's not my fault!" It's your fault for making me so conflicted about how I feel towards you, but Pete didn't add this sentence to the reply of course.

Rather than snapping again, Gary returned to carelessly attaching the damn banner to the roof. And this time, it was done slightly furiously so that he could it done and over with. Apparently, Pete was going to be the death of him if he kept being unfocused lately.

Which confused him...why did Petey seem to be so unfocused around him? Well, that could be somewhat understandable seeing as though Gary Smith is quite the sexy guy around this school. That was what he believed anyway, and anyone would swoon over his charm and rough ways with people in social situations. And when he didn't have his medication; watch out, students of Bullworth. Watch out.

At least with this damn manual labor, he had the chance to be around Pete more often and femme boy was forced to stay around and not ditch him because he had some fucking weird way of not being able to disobey orders especially by authority of this school. That flaw was going to get the boy in trouble one day, oh yes...

Eventually, Gary finished up with the banner and Pete held the latter steady this time so that he could come down more easily. And by this time, Algernon reappeared from the school bathroom with his wedgie gone, and even Pinky showed up and happily yanked the horrifically ugly hair net from her self-proclaimed beautiful hair.

"Okay, so how much longer are we going to be doing this work?" Gary prompted the three in his view. Pinky and Pete exchanged looks that basically spelled out they were clueless.

However, Algie stepped up and caught Gary's eye. Now that he had his attention, the nerd went on to explain, "I had hid in Crabblesnitche's office when some bullies had chased me after I exited the bathroom alone. Since I was already there, I asked if we were free to go since we already finished most of our jobs today."

"What did he say, nerd?"

"He said that he already told the teachers none of us would be in classes today. We would need to continue for the rest of the day until finally finished." Pete, Gary, and Pinky all groaned at the news. For all of them were tired from their tasks today. "Hey, the good news is that we don't have to be in class. I'm not very athletic myself, so I always freak out when I have to play sports-"

"That isn't good news! My grades are going to slip and I'll have to see a big, haunting bad grade on the test I was supposed to have in math!" Pete suddenly said in distress, everyone turned to glance at him as his eyes widened in fear of the mental images of his failed test that he couldn't study for due to the preparations.

It wasn't that he didn't want the party to be held, because he did want to see some excitement for a change of pace. But still...he got high grades and hardly failed. His grades were already beginning to slip due to the way Gary has been on his mind lately.

Noticing his distress over the matter, Gary rolled his eyes and took a step forward. Soon enough, he grabbed Pete's right shoulder and shot him a blank look once their eyes made contact. "Geez, femme boy. We wouldn't want that, now would we? Besides, you have already been showing some signs of lack of concentration..." To end this sarcastic little comment, Gary smirked almost teasingly as if he was testing Pete's frustration about the subject.

Even if he was still very much worried over his grades, Pete still briefly forgot about that once he felt Gary's hand rest upon his light shoulder. The contact. Through the material of his shirt, to his skin, Pete liked that contact.

His eyes revealed it, they softened and fluttered to a close for a split second.

And then Pete returned to reality. He shifted his eyes to see Algie and Pinky staring with mildly-concerned faces, probably wondering why he had no comeback and briefly went limp and silent. As fast as ever, the heat rushed into the smaller boy's cheeks and he stepped away and out of his contact. There was no way that he could have possibly enjoyed that...not now at least...

"No comment?" Gary sighed, was that of disappointment. If he hadn't turned to survey the school, Pete would have probably spoke without thinking and asked if he was disappointed. "God, you're acting so weird lately. Anyway, enough about you. Nerd, let's hear the rest of the story..."

"Right, right." Algie resumed his explanation before Pete had interrupted with his distressed comments and the weird moment between him and the sociopath. "I was about to mention that he said we can all make up for our absence and finish any work that had been missed. So, Pete, there's no need to worry about that!"

"Humph, I couldn't care less. I just really want to go back to my room and retire for the day..." Pinky stated matter-of-factly, bringing a hand to cover her mouth as a small yawn passed her lips. She hadn't slept well the previous night because of some ruckus outside her room window involving some greasers yelling at each other about a girl they both wanted to date or something like that.

And so, the four decided that they should resume their work and get all of this over with. Once the preparations for the party were complete, the tired Bullworth students could all sit back and relax with the knowledge that it was all over and they just had to survive the remaining six days of the year. And on New Year's Eve, the party would be in full swing.

Who knows what could possibly happen that night. Excitement welled inside of the four, as well as other students in the know. That night would be the end of the year, the beginning of a new, and this could only mean plenty of interesting occurrences. Each of the students had high hopes for how things turned out when all was said and done. Meanwhile, Pete wondered how he could live with falling for Gary and trying so hard to mask it so he would never discover the truth.

But, unfortunately, the rest of this manual labor would have to be done before that night. Everyone realized this fact and sped up on their jobs, hoping that time would pass quicker.

Now at the fountain, Pete resumed his task of decorating that with lights. His mind was elsewhere, however. And his eyes were right on Gary who was passing by carrying the stupid banner and looking very pissed off.

_**To Be Continued In Chapter 2**_

_**. . .**_

**Yes, the chapters will be somewhat short like this one. Right now, we're only getting a general idea of what is going on with the New Year's preparations and Pete's thoughts of the matter and his determination to hide them.**

**And Gary's will be revealed in chapter 2. I hope you bear with me during the story, updates may take a few days at the most because of my freaking busy life that you're probably not interested in at all...**

**Read and review!**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**


	2. Chapter 2 Gary Hinders The Preperations

**I had an awesome ringing in of the new year, I hope all you did as well. Sorry about the late update, but I had been trying to catch up on sleep from staying up way past midnight and partying and then having to drag my ass to work. Being 20 kind of sucks sometimes...but I probably am really annoying you with this rambling.**

**Enough stalling! Let's get to the chapter! :D (Why am I smiling? Geez, that's OOC of me...)**

**Disclaimer: Didn't I already mention that Bully belongs to Rockstar and it is not mine? If not, oh well, now you can be double reassured!**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**

_**. . .**_

_**The New Year**_

_**Chapter 2; Gary Hinders The Preparations**_

_**. . .**_

How did he have to end up doing this ridiculous manual labor with three very annoying people? There was that admittedly attractive, yet very spoiled and annoying prep, Pee Stain and his useless presence, then there was his girly roommate Peter whom was driving him to an even farther point of insanity with his so-called 'helpful' advice about how to hang these dumb banners. And all in all, Gary was more than prepared to just dupe all of the labor on them, regardless of how much Crabblesnitch will yell at him about it.

In his mind, he wondered...he wondered how such a talented, smart, cunning, and sexy guy like him had to be basically torn away from his current goals of ruling the school just to hang some stupid banners with freaking cheesy comments about the new year blah blah and put up with these three and their useless babble and 'helpful advice'.

So far, they've only been working one day. Five days remained until the end of the year. Only. Five. Days. Then, he could ditch the losers and have an epic night at the party. Once all of this excitement died down, he would resume where he left off on his sneaky goals kept hidden in the shadows. Gary couldn't wait until that night. As the seconds turned to minutes, the minutes turn to hours, he was already plotting and a pretty cool prank to pull was already being formulated.

Everyone was going to remember it, hopefully.

But for now, Gary just tried to remain content in the fact that he would get some fun in the near future. And there was a silver lining in these dark moments: Petey was on the group as well and despite how annoying and unfocused he has become over time, this setup was his perfect excuse to be around him for long amounts of time.

He could tease, abuse, putdown, and even flirt with him in his own twisted kind of way and nobody else would catch onto the fact this was all out of his developed crush on femme boy over there. Certainly, oblivious idiots like Algernon and Pinky couldn't detect his actual motives because of their own discontent with the headmaster for assigning them these tasks. And Pete needed to find out sooner or later how crazy about him he was.

Didn't Pete notice his interest? Did he not take time to contemplate and consider all of his teasing, abusing, and awful way of treating him out of nothing more than all-out tension and frustration for him? In the moments they were finally alone, the smaller boy would not seem at ease and actually...guarded. So naturally, Gary took the liberty of putting some moves on him, in his own twisted kind of way that could admittedly come off as freaky and/or like that of a damn serial killer. It never worked...

But all in all, it was quite pleasurable to see Pete become so uncomfortably embarrassed by all of his actions and stealthily flirty words. It was is, though he wished to hide it, he very much reciprocated his feelings. This was what Gary wanted to believe and damn it, he would find out if this was true! And, on the upcoming night of this party...he planned to get the truth out of him.

Until then, Gary noted as he flickered his gaze back to the large banner in his hands rather than Pete, he would have to remain cool and not suspicious at all. And with his skills, that could be easily arranged.

Since awakening, the four had been working all morning to decorate the school for the upcoming party. They worked mostly the entire day yesterday, and now the end was in sight. Unfortunately, Pinky had returned from her usual cafeteria work and had encountered a bustling prefect on the first floor whom had given her and the guys an update on their work by Crabblesnitch: whom informed them that once these preparations were concluded, they would actually receive a bit of a special payment (apparently, **somebody **had gotten into too much drugs, Pinky had muttered under her breath once the prefect was out of earshot). This only intensified the group's determination to wrap things up.

But all of this hustle and bustle came with complicated problems like some troublemakers tearing down the banners and spraying them with crude graffiti, nobody listening to Algernon and his constant trips to the bathroom, and Pete insisting that they should start all over because nothing looked as good as it should have (causing Gary, Pinky, and even Algie to have the urge to kill the boy in his sleep that night). Hopefully, they could get everything settled and then never have to work together for as long as they all lived.

Pete's strange moments of being unfocused and lost in his thoughts have already caused Gary to almost fall from the roof of various buildings **three times** in not even two full days. And the sociopath was getting annoyed by that. As much as he liked to believe that it was because of him, he didn't want an injury that could hinder everything. He almost wanted to know the real reason why he was like this.

After all, why wouldn't it be due to his sex appeal and ways with people? It was as if Pete didn't even realize he was trying to put the moves on him and imply that he was more than prepared to jump him at any time.

Now, it was sometime in the afternoon and the group of four were still trying to complete their tasks. They had been at the main school building the previous day, and now they were to decorate the areas around both dorms. Since Pinky had already finished up with her work in the cafeteria, she offered to decorate the girls' dorm and this wasn't just because anything was better than sprinkling hints of mustard into a large pot of some disgusting liquid dish that was green and literally smelled like the inside of a sewer. And now she was not around, it was just the guys attempting in vain to finish their jobs.

Once again, Gary was up on the roof hanging a banner that said something along the lines of '**have the best year of your depressingly short lives!**' along the front. This time, since Pete **and **Algernon were holding the ladder. This was more than needed because the equipment that they had been given by the prefects were so cheep and basically falling apart.

As Gary spread out the damn thing along the front of the outer wall, his eyes shifted to glance down at Pete. And whether Pete realized this fully or not, he happened to be looking up at him surprisingly focused. It took a few seconds, but Gary was able to notice that his eyes seemed to fixated on his ass more than anything. '**I-I wasn't looking there, you just happened to be in my vision, Gary!**' Would probably be the boy's comeback if he were to call him out on that.

Secretly, his lips were beginning to twist into a smirk. Knowing Gary, this smirk was probably very smug of course. But seeing as though there was no doubt Pete was looking there and strangely appearing a bit redder in the face than he had been before, was there really any other scenario?

It would be very interesting if he were to just tease him a little. When we say a little, we actually mean a lot. And maybe, just maybe, this could be his chance to find out if Petey really did like in that sort of way or if he was only that easily distracted by the sexy. Perhaps a combination?

"Petey," Gary called out, craning his neck to look down at Pete. "What's going on down there?"

"Huh?" Pete muttered, trying desperately to shake some thoughts out of his head. That was what Gary assumed, at least. He looked up at Gary, his brown eyes trying to meet his. "What are you talking about?"

"Shouldn't you be hanging the banner?" Algie spoke up, as he raised his head. He was admittedly very confused as to why the very disturbing and sneaky boy was prompting such a question.

As the nerd had expected, Gary and Pete just tuned out to him. He really didn't seem bothered by it, as this occurred quite frequently. For a brief moment, a typical twisted smirk appeared on Gary's lips.

"Yesterday, you were very unfocused for some reason. And I could have sworn that I sensed you starting at me previously. It explains why you almost made me fall."

"What makes you think that I would..." Pete seemed hesitant to continue. So he didn't bother. He broke off that sentence and his expression revealed his frustration. "You're so sick!"

"Are you guys finished...?" Algernon muttered after several seconds, as his hands were becoming quite numb and strained from the way he was holding this damn heavy ladder.

Still, Gary wasn't finished yet. He actually harbored a strange like of being able to work with Pete most of the day during this manual labor, and tease and provoke him to death. It at least made entertainment ensue after just the right amount of this.

"Don't think it's bad to be staring, 'cause I am very distracting..."

"I'd say you're too full of yourself."

"And there's reasons for that, Petey. Now just admit you were staring and we will call it quits."

That last line interested Pete. He looked back and rose an eyebrow, almost too curious about why she seemed to be very interested in finding out. "Why would you want to know so badly?"

"And why were you staring at my ass?" Retorted Gary in monotone, his expression becoming rather blank as well.

"I wasn't staring..." God, that was such a lie. And Pete knew it. He looked back down towards the ground as if to hide the fact he was blushing so much right now.

That was it, he couldn't take this. It was bad enough that he knew he was falling for Gary so hopelessly and without any sign of this ever leading somewhere good, but now the same person he likes so much as to be such a jerk and tease him like that? Not to mention blatantly point out what he happened to be unconsciously staring at that...actually looked good (shit, did he just think that?).

Pete didn't need anyone else to hear all of this. It was bad enough that everyone assumed he was basically a girl trapped in a guy's body and would never get off his case about that, but what would happen if anyone should discover his secret? His secret attraction must not be revealed, he couldn't take anymore abuse from people.

Pete glanced around the school grounds to see that students and prefects were coming and going. He was almost relieved when he noticed that no one else had overheard or payed attention, except for Algernon whom was still holding the ladder. But Algie could be a pretty reasonable guy; he was always stepped on so much by all the bullies that he was basically submissive to anything and would not spread any new-found information.

Still, this was embarrassing enough. Having to try and not reveal his feelings and have to deal with Gary's teasing and almost cruelly implying heavily that he found it funny he swung that way.

Even if he was supposed to be helping with the preparations for the New Year's Eve party, Pete turned and began to quickly walk away from the boys' dorm. Gary and Algernon had called out, asking him why the hell he was deserting them and what was wrong now. But he payed them no attention.

He just continued walking until he ended up at the decorated fountain. It looked almost very nice with the simple, yet kind of classy lights hung and placed around it. Rather than going back to the source of his stress, Pete hung around there to try and sort out his thoughts and just clam down.

Back at the boys' dorms, Gary climbed off the ladder and folded his arms over his chest as he stared straight ahead. He kind of wondered what that was all about and why he left. Did he say something offensive as usual? Did he embarrass him?

Hopefully he did. Because, in all honesty, the only way that Gary could really show how interested he was in Pete was by being so selectively offensive and to do all of this teasing...

All he had to do was keep this up until New Year's Eve. His own preparations were falling wonderfully in place and this scheming would be all payed off.

_**To Be Continued In Chapter 3**_

_**. . .**_

**Sorry about the very late update, New Year's has already passed and this story is still focused on that theme. Sigh.**

**Well, nevertheless, I hope that the chapter was to your liking. And this is only the second. The following will involve a few more characters making small appearances and both Gary and Pete get involved in an awkward situation...again...**

**Read and review!**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**


	3. Chapter 3 What Happens In The Closet

_**. . .**_

_**The New Year**_

_**Chapter 3; What Happens In The Closet**_

_**. . .**_

With two more days gone, only three remained until New Year's. Everyone around Bullworth Academy were going around as usual with the typical routines, and the unlucky group of four continued to try to decorate the entire school grounds. But all in all, there was no deny that this party would bring a little excitement. That was what this school needed and everyone knew it.

In these two days, Crabblesnitch decided to send a couple of prefects to stalk Gary, Pete, Algie, and Pinky after noticing that they were slacking with their jobs. The two chosen guys secretly watched them with keen eyes from their ever-changing hiding places and made sure they did their tasks.

Pete could hardly speak to Gary, he was growing more and more nervous around him. And it really began the minute they were ever assigned to do this together. Always being at his side, basically forced to stand there and try to take his mind off of him but he couldn't. And it was really showing that he was unfocused, he kept trying to look at Gary at calculated moments and would hardly work. He couldn't keep his mind anywhere else but him and the party; which was so unlike him.

He could have been worrying about things like running out of cash, getting bad grades on his schoolwork because his mind was so much revolving around Gary Smith, he could have been worrying about the party being a disastrous event after all of the manual labor they had been going through.

Finally having finished a little bit early today, and knowing that everything would finally be ready by the next day, the team was allowed to disperse by the prefects. And so they scattered to various parts of the school grounds.

Pete had just finished up with English class, he left the classroom, feeling kind of bad because he just knew that his mind was not on that lesson. It was centered around Gary. But it's not like he had been having any stupid fantasies about him or something like that, he felt a bit worried that he wasn't in there today. The teacher announced in his same slow and basically drunk voice that Gary claimed he was feeling too bad to attend class after all of that work and managed to get an okay on that one, so he was back at their dorm room resting.

Pete could not swallow that incredibly fake story. He knew that the teacher was **really **drunk today to actually believe it. But he had checked almost all over the school building and he couldn't find him at all. Gary didn't go into town, did he? Maybe he could skip the next classes and risk getting into trouble to look...

Walking out into the spacious hall, Pete froze up and his eyes widened a bit. Was he actually just about to skip classes and risk bad grades just to find **Gary Smith **of all people? Really?

Damn, his head was really messed up if he actually considered that!

He rounded a corner and gazed around to see that Derby and Pinky were leaning against the wall chatting. Well, it was probably a chat in a one-sided way on Derby's part, as Pinky was smiling suggestively as she tried find some kind of way to flirt with them. And these two were the only ones around at the moment he could ask...besides, Pinky may know where Gary is because they're all in the same group...

"How is that terrible manual labor with those other guys coming along?"

"Oh...it's, ah, getting very exhausting and I'm not sure if I will be able to last any longer. Now, Derby, about the upcoming party...I was wondering if we could be a coup-"

"Tell Crabblesnitch that you don't want to be with them anymore and maybe he will take you off the group."

"Ugh, I really wish that were possible. That old man doesn't listen to me! It is especially frustrating when I make a good attempt to-"

"Hey, Pinky," Pete interjected into the conversation, lightly tapping Pinky's shoulder for her attention. She and Derby paused and turned their heads to him. "I don't mean to break up the conversation, but have you seen Gary anywhere after we all split?"

"Yes..." Pinky tapped a finger to her chin, trying to remember when she had last encountered Gary. She could vaguely remember seeing a flash of him as she was passing by the janitor's closet to get to the bathroom. "The last time I saw him was a few moments ago before English class finished. He, for some stupid reason, sneaked into the janitor's closet. If you ask me," Pinky placed a hand on her hip and shook her head in a more or less disapproving manner. "Gary is always doing the stupidest things I strongly wonder what's wrong with his sanity-" Pinky cut herself off as a curious expression passed over her face. She smiled as she went off on another topic. "Wait a minute, Peter, since **when** do you care about where Gary is? You've been trying to avoid him ever since we started doing that work together."

"I know, I know. It's just..." Pete thought for a moment, refusing to meet both Pinky **and** Derby's curious gazes falling on him. For a moment, he actually wondered if he had pistol shoved at his face with the blinding light of a spotlight pouring down on him and his answer affected the whole human population of the world.

Hope came in an unexpected place. Derby. He sighed and said to Pinky, "Maybe we shouldn't pry. He obviously doesn't want to talk."

"Oh, Derby," Pinky turned back to her cousin and gave him a flirty smile. "You're so concerned for other people~!"

Pete wanted to just gag at seeing this display before him. But he was grateful for Derby, whom had apparently caught on to how nervous he was and offered some rare help. He gave the prep a nod of approval before walking off to the janitor's closest to find Gary.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Pinky realized that Derby was not a caring person and he probably would never even admit that he helped him in the first place. But, this was a brief thought, as he made his way through the halls and brushed past the students and prefects bustling back and forth.

_**. . .**_

Pete arrived at the janitor's closet. He glanced around to make sure that no one was passing by to ask why the hell he was about to go in there of all places. And seeing that the coast was relatively clear, he opened up the door and stepped in.

The sight he was greeted with, was Gary and Jimmy talking. Neither seemed to notice him, as their tones were lowered into whispers. This was a bit suspicious, as this usually meant the sociopath was up to something when he spoke with Jimmy alone like this. And he had to be the sane one and interfere to make sure that nothing chaotic happened.

"What are you guys being so secretive about in here?" Pete managed to ask, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning in the open doorway. His presence was finally noticed by his other two friends, they paused the discussion to turn around to view him.

Rather than getting annoyed by the interruption, a very wicked smirk passed over Gary's lips. "Ah, Petey, perfect timing! We were just discussing something I have planned for the New Year's party!"

That was all Pete needed to hear. He sighed and struggled to say, "Not some elaborate prank again..."

"That was my reaction." Jimmy interjected, obviously approving of Pete's typical reaction. The smaller boy glanced a him for a moment, before looking back at an annoyed Gary.

"You two know that Halloween prank was so damn awesome! But, it was not enough for me..." Gary began to pace around the small little closet, going off an some ramblings about that aforementioned prank last Halloween and about how awesome he was for staging that. Jimmy and Pete could only exchange equally exhausted expressions. "As some of the most unpredictable guys at this school, we need to establish our rep as this. So, my plan of course, is to make everyone realize that at the party. We will have the attention of everyone and it will so be remembered for a long time! Whoa, haven't felt this pumped up since the last time I forgot to take my medication!"

"Listen man, I tend to be one for causing chaos..." Jimmy spoke up, walking over to the happily plotting boy and speaking firmly. "The prank you were telling me about earlier before Pete came in, I don't really think that will be too remembered."

He really shouldn't have decided to ask this, but Pete did it regardless of his own fears. "Jimmy, what kind of prank is he talking about?"

Jimmy, obviously reluctantly, went into detailing about this prank Gary wanted to stage at the party. It sounded a bit strange, but he was confident it would be original and quite unexpected for their public. It would all begin sometime at night after the party would be going for a few hours, to make sure that the teachers were drunk as hell and the minors were calm and actually having fun. Gary intended to make sure that the students didn't get into any alcohol, they would need to be fully sober to remember the awesome prank.

What would kick things off would be Gary pulling the both of them out of the crowd and into the school, not explaining his motives. But he intended to act suspicious as possible, so that all of the nosy people (just about everyone at this school was nosy anyway) would decide to follow and see what was going on. He would toss them into this very closet and they would all fake doing something sexual, sounding very suggestive and lusty, saying things with double meanings, and providing an occasional bang on the wall to seal the deal. But in reality, nothing of the sort would be happening (Gary rose a brow questionably when Pete blushed noticeably at that comment and tried to hide it).

This would be to make everyone be so confused, expecting there to be one hell of a threesome in motion in here. But no one would dare walk in, as there would be no **fun** in that. After they were positive that everyone were convinced, they would wait until they all backed off and then take in some of the talk that would spread among everyone. It would be hilarious, Gary assumed at least, to see everyone get so surprised especially considering how all three of them probably would never, ever have sex together or even at least develop strong feelings for anyone of the trio.

Gary didn't notice that Pete had been glancing at the floor as if in thought, but Jimmy did. And the troublemaker's curiosity began to spike as he noticed that. But he dared not to acknowledge that now.

"It will be so damn hilarious to see everyone's reactions!" Gary said through his laughing, and he eventually just couldn't restrain any of them and reeled against the wall clutching his sides.

Pete and Jimmy were far from amused, contrary to Gary's belief.

When his friend's laughter died down, Pete managed to hold back some anger that had been developing from the kind of signal he had been giving him. But he still had to snap, "What's so funny about that?"

Immediately, Gary shut up and leaned against the wall for support. He and Jimmy set their eyes back on Pete, apparently bemused by that rare outburst.

"Geez, femme boy, what's got you so pissed off?" Gary stood back up, balance returned from his laughing fit. One of his dark brows arched as his gaze became fixed on Pete. "It's funny because we would mess with their weak minds and cause one hell of a scandal; **chaos**!" Pete didn't look too convinced, in fact...he appeared to be more furious by his explanation. Still, Gary decided to push it. "These people are weak and believe anything, so they would totally buy the act! If you consider it deeply, it's very obvious how ridiculous **and** scandalous it would be...and fun."

"How is it fun?"

"Tch, you're getting all offended over nothing. Look, Petey, you don't have to be such a prude." Jimmy glanced at Pete, and back at Gary afterward. He felt as though he should leave, God knows he hated being in the middle of these kind of situations and he really had no willing interest in the prank; it seemed very idiotic. "If everyone isn't convinced that we were really banging each other, I will ensure they are convinced by pulling in one of you guys for a big-"

"I'm not going to do something that stupid, Gary!" Gary and Jimmy still glanced at each other, their expressions becoming ones of honest confusion at seeing Pete suddenly becoming so pissed off about something. But, deep down, Jimmy really didn't blame him at all; he didn't want to play a role in this either...but Gary was too hellbent on the prank.

"What's gotten into you?" Gary countered hotly, taking a step forward. It was just so annoying when people rejected his amazing plans and refused to take part. Besides, Pete has been acting completely weird lately and it was getting under his skin!

"Gary, just listen to me; you're never going to understand! But if you want the truth, I'll just say it right now! It's all because of you and what you've done to my mind!"

Gary's pissed expression faltered to one of utter confusion and he stood in silence before looking over at Jimmy for any answers to what that meant. Obviously, the new student didn't really know either because he just shrugged his shoulders in response.

Unable to take any more of this, Pete turned on the heels of his feet and walked as fast as he could away from out of that closet. And above all: away from Gary himself. He couldn't believe that he had previously wanted to find him so that he could try and work up some nerve to say all that weighed and haunted his mind. But now...now he was pissing him off again.

All he knew was that he needed to get away for a while, to be alone. Regardless of what Jimmy and Gary probably thought after seeing such a strange display of mood swings before them.

"What. The. Hell. Is wrong with him?" Gary wondered aloud seconds after Pete left in what appeared to be an angry rush. He turned once again, to meet Jimmy's face. Obviously, Jimmy didn't have much of a theory.

"I don't know. Look, I'm usually all for a good prank or two," Jimmy shook his head, as if disapproving with the idea. "That one was going too far. Seriously, none of us like each other in that way and if so...what's the point in that? Would it just be funny to watch the confusion or something?"

"Pfft, I wouldn't say we don't like each other in that way..." Gary murmured thoughtfully, looking off into the distance for a moment. As soon as Jimmy heard that comment, he raised a brow and gave him a questionable look as if urging him to expand.

"Uh...Gary? What the hell are you trying to say?"

Gary scoffed, but didn't turn to look at the confused boy almost burning through him with that stare of his. Would he have to finally admit this aloud? Apparently... "Isn't it obvious, Jimmy? You haven't caught on to this little fact yet...?"

"No, not really. Geez, I don't even know what you're trying to imply." Jimmy replied bluntly. It was fairly obvious that he didn't know what Gary was saying, but the scheming boy liked this anyway. It was amusing to see confusion and that was one of the big reasons why he was arranging this prank!

"Jimmy, jimmy, Jimmy...you are so naïve, aren't 'ya?" Gary released a sigh, fully turning to dramatically answer his perplexed expression. This guy seriously needed to get a better understanding of his actions, otherwise this was going to lead to some very awkward moments in their so-called friendship. "Despite the way I treat femme boy...bashing, abusing, humiliating, and overall treating him like crap...I sort of..."

_**. . .**_

The door to Gary and Pete's dorm room opened quickly and collided with the wall noisily. It wasn't seconds before it was slammed right back and making some of the light pieces of furniture and the school's sociopath's medication on the shelf tumble over. A figure rushed forward onto his bed and draped himself over it, wrinkling and messing up the covers.

Tears threatened to spill from the boy's eyes, but his face contorted to a grimace and he tried to blink them away. Now was not the time for any emotions to come out, he didn't need to be reminded that he once again overreacted in front of those two again and created more of a scene than he should have. After he furiously left the closet, various students walking through the halls stopped to stare at him. Oh, that was just so damn great...

Gary was such a bastard sometimes...the way that he constantly tormented him whether he knew it or not! And about ninety-nine percent of the time, he knew exactly what he was doing...he knew all too well and strove to be even better at it the next time.

This prank was just wrong, but also tortured Pete just to even think about what this was really doing to him. The reason he reacted so furiously was that him, Gary, and Jimmy were all going to pretend as if they were...that they felt **that way** about each other! And were doing...

Then he had to go and blatantly state that it would be crazy if any of them really felt that way about each other and seriously considered doing that kind of stuff! Gary spelled out that he really didn't care about either of them and never would, the only reason that he was arranging this prank was for the thrill and getting to watch people go into chaos from within! Obviously, he didn't return his feelings and never would in this lifetime...

Oh God, he was such an idiot for even falling this far! Gary. The school's plotting sociopath. Returning his feelings? The mere thought of this did not compute. Now after that little announcement of his, his hopes of this ever getting to be his wee officially crushed beyond belief.

Why was he even crying over this? Gary would probably laugh and tease him in that same dark manner of his if he were to see him in this state, there was no way he'd feel sorry for him or at least provide comfort. But still...even if he should just try to move on from this, Pete couldn't let go. His grasp was weakening but desperate but at least his sense of reality was returning. That was more than enough.

Pete raised his head for a moment and looked down at the small stain the tears had left. He furiously muttered a curse and pulled himself back onto the bed, this time in a proper sitting position as he glanced down at the old wooden flooring. Before he knew it, he could feel teardrops falling to his hands that rested over his knees. Oh great, now he couldn't stop.

This would make for an awkward situation if Gary or Jimmy, or anyone opened that weak door and noticed him crying. For such a stupid reason at that. Possibly overreacting like he always did when it came to the scheming boy.

Did Gary even have any good qualities about him? Was there even much of a reason to fall this far?

He didn't know...he didn't know anything at the moment. If by some miracle, he survived this day, Pete would probably just have to go back home and discuss moving somewhere else with them. At least this way, it would be easy for him to avoid Gary.

Wait a second... "Avoiding Gary..."

Pete immediately shoved himself off of the wrinkled, tangled mess of covers that was now his bed and began to pace the floor of the room. Considering that idea. Avoiding Gary...

"Why not do that?" Pete wondered aloud, not really caring at the moment if anyone was outside and could easily hear him due to these crappy walls of the dorm. "This could get back in order, I won't react this way ever again if I can just...**avoid **him whenever he's around or insists that we hang around each other for any crazy ideas of his."

Perhaps avoiding Gary was the only thing he could do right now. And even if it would kill him in the inside to stay away purposely, this may end well in the long run. Pete wouldn't have to be a part of any of his crazy plots and he could save himself from abuse. Whenever he gave him mixed messages like he lived on performing, he could save himself the heartache and move away from it. And as far as basically living in the same room with him...well...perhaps the headmaster could be swayed to change that if he gave a good enough argument.

The tears were beginning to lesson. That was a good sign. But still, Pete paced the floor and refused to force a smile and leave the room. "All I have to do is avoid him..."

"Avoiding him won't work, Pete."

Astonished by the sudden appearance of another person, Pete's eyes widened and he gradually turned to his visitor leaning in the opened doorway with a knowing look in the eyes.

Ugh, why did he have to say all of that stuff aloud?

_**To Be Continued In Chapter 4**_

_**. . .**_

**Cliff-hanger alert! Cliff-hanger alert! What did Gary say about Pete in the closet, why is Gary behind such a strange prank or is all just falling into place or a bigger and expertly calculated scheme, who is Pete's visitor, does Jimmy know what's going on, and will Pinky catch Derby's attention like she wants to do?**

**Sorry if the chapter was a bit rushed most of the time, I had writer's block and it really threw me off course so...please excuse it's crappy form.**

**LOL, I published this chapter on Valentine's Day. XD Could that have been more perfect? Well, anyway, I think I was actually planning to do that anyway.**

**Read and review! You'll get something nice in return, if you know what I mean! *Dangles chocolate***

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**


	4. Chapter 4 That Wasn't Part Of The Plan!

**So Pete's been caught after blabbing his plans aloud and a surprise person comes to confront him about the main plot point, Jimmy is caught in the middle, Johnny and Lola enter the picture – why the hell are they here, and Gary is still plotting.**

**This chapter was written early in the morning hours, I was just about inhaling coffee and couldn't sleep at all...this is really going to backfire on me one day. But addictions are hard to kick, am I right?**

**Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own Bully, I don't. The game and it's characters belong to Rockstar, I am just a fan with a little too much time on her hands for once.**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**

_**. . .**_

_**The New Year**_

_**Chapter 4; That Wasn't Part Of The Plan!**_

_**. . .**_

"J-Jimmy?" Pete's face promptly turned bright red and he froze in place, hardly daring to make a movement. He didn't expect to have Jimmy suddenly walk in, and actually make a comment like that.

Did he overhear his plans to avoid Gary? Did he follow him all the way here to tell him that? If this was true, then he was so screwed.

Jimmy appeared to be a bit hesitant to make conversation. He leaned in the doorway and looked all over the room rather than looking at Pete. But, however, he knew that he had to something before things got too out of hand and dramatic. Whether he wanted to be of any help or not. Not like that mattered, really.

After having heard Gary reveal something rather important to him back in that closet, he didn't waste time in coming all the way here to reveal to Pete this newly-revealed piece of information that may prove to be something to benefit him. But he also wondered how crazy Gary would react upon finding out that he made a wrong move in his big plans for the party, revealing this stuff.

For some reason, that Jimmy didn't or want to know, he felt a bit sympathetic for Pete. Besides, he really wasn't acting like himself lately and something had to be done to mend that back in order.

"I know it's kind of sudden, but I skateboarded all the way here to tell you something you may need to hear. Listen, avoiding Gary is something all of us would like to do at some point...but back in the closet-"

"Jimmy, don't remind me about what happened in the closet right now. I don't want to think about it." Pete turned and once again began to pace the floor, lost within his own thoughts and unintentionally annoying Jimmy.

"Pete-"

"Gary's really going too far! I can't believe that he would actually suggest and say stuff like that, does he even think about how I may really feel?"

"What...?"

"Nothing, it's nothing..." Pete held back another round of tears, looking away from Jimmy. He couldn't believe that he was really saying all of this and...in front of someone. Who could ultimately find out his secret at that. "Jimmy, can you just leave?"

"I know you're confused about what's going on, but I may be able to explain everything if you'll just shut up and stop sobbing." How did he know that he was sobbing again? Well, Pete kind of didn't want to know because it was kind of humiliating...so he just wiped the sleeve of his shirt over his eyes. "Now, Gary's always such an ass. And this prank that he has lined up for the party proves it. I really don't want to go through with it any more than you want to."

"I believe you...it's just the fact that Gary would suggest that. It's as if he doesn't understand that maybe there **is **someone who likes him in that way but can't say it. Maybe this someone is **one of us**. One of us realizes now how he feels and is too embarrassingly scared of how to admit it to him."

"Maybe...that someone is **you**, Pete?" From his cheeks to his ears, Pete could feel the heat burning through and possibly leaving scars behind in it's path. He could not turn to meet Jimmy's face...he just couldn't... "Sometimes I never get what's going on right away. After piecing together your reaction to that prank suggestion, your spacy attitude these past months, and all of that talk about avoiding Gary...it's kind of clear to me."

He knew what was coming next. But he just couldn't bear to hear those words leave Jimmy's mouth because it would be clear or him. What if other people overheard this revelation? What if **Gary **was secretly listening in and laughing his ass off about it this second? Or what if...Gary brought Jimmy here purposely to lure information out of him?

Possibilities of the motives were endless. And before Pete even realized it, Jimmy had already spoke the words that stayed on his mind forever and was tormenting him as each day went by. A simple comment that was catastrophic for in his own brain.

"You swing that way. You've been pining for Gary all this time and probably-"

"Jimmy! You can say this to anyone, just don't tell that to Gary himself!" Pete said, utterly panicked as he ran over to Jimmy and desperately reached and grasped his blue Bullworth vest. Tears were still pricking in his eyes, he knew it. But that didn't matter right now, he had to try and make sure Gary never knew about this. "Dammit, it's true! But I'd never be able to look Gary in the eyes again if he knew about this! There's not a chance in hell that he feels the same, he'd probably break into hysterical laughter if he was listening now! Please, please, I couldn't handle it..."

He wasn't quite sure how to process this new information, he hadn't ever been in this kind of situation before because as far Jimmy knew; he was straight. But, Pete seemed to be distressed about the situation and whether or not Gary would accept it. He stared into Pete's widened eyes looking as if they were about to brim with tears.

They remained in that position for several seconds, unable to really say anything considering what had previously been admitted by the distressed boy. What could they have said? And what was there to do?

Pete finally tore his pleading eyes away from Jimmy, and released his grasp on his vest. While Jimmy shook his head, hopefully in confusion, he walked back over to his bed and took a seat on the very edge.

"Sorry. That was building up for a little while." Pete's hands raised to press against his burning cheeks and he slumped downward onto the bed. He couldn't look at Jimmy that easily, not when he was probably a bit disturbed by his reaction and the mere fact that he was crazy about such an unlikely person. "Jimmy...I really need some kind of advice about what to do. But there's no one I can turn to, everyone is into their own clique and those groups aren't my style. I think that avoiding Gary may solve some of my problems...but I need to figure out how I could possibly shake these feelings I have."

"Listen man, I just don't know what to tell you." Jimmy began to came closer. He grabbed Pete's shoulder as if to get him to get off the bed and rise to his feet. But his friend was obviously hesitating to do that. "Avoiding Gary won't work, and you know that. All you can do is try and take him."

"Jimmy, I'm...I'm at my limit now..." Anxiety was written all over his face now. Pete sat back upright and nervously wrung his hands. "After what I said in that closet, Gary will never let me live it down! And if I won't comply with that stupid prank of his on New Year's...he'll probably...oh God, he'll probably do something horrible to humiliate me in front of everyone..."

"Stop it, you're just getting more worked up."

"You know it's true! He never gives me a break..."

"I know, but there's something that I need to tell you." Jimmy's tone sounded less confused now, and more serious as he recalled what Gary had said to him in the closet and what he believed Pete should know. "If you would just stop wringing your hands and acting crazy, I'll tell you something that Gary revealed to me earlier."

"God, I can't wait to here this." There was so much sarcasm put into those words. Jimmy himself was more than at his own limits as well, thinking that it was hopeless to try and calm Pete down so that he wouldn't have to deal with this any more and could concentrate on other things.

"Okay, look, I'm just going to leave you alone then." Jimmy stated, at his limits, he sighed deeply and proceeded to turn on the heels of his feet and go out the door. So what if Pete didn't know how Gary really felt just yet? It shouldn't affect him at all. But for some reason, it kind of did.

As weird as that felt to admit to himself.

He tried to look as if he didn't care. He really did. But Pete's hands began to tremble a bit as he removed them from his face and looked over at Jimmy getting closer and closer to the door. Honestly, whether good or bad, maybe he could use some explanation about what Gary said after he left the closet. Maybe it was good or maybe it was bad. Whichever didn't matter because it would at least give an opportunity to piece together himself what made Gary plan such a crazy and insensitive plan like that.

Rather than letting go of the only person who could give him some legit proof, Pete stood up and quickly walked over, reaching out and desperately grabbing the edge of Jimmy's vest.

"Jimmy...what did Gary say after I left?" He was defeated, going so low as to wonder what Gary said. There was not enough words to express how humiliating it was, but Pete was willing to go through that to know. "I need to know, it's been bothering me lately. He just...he just confuses me so much."

"Yeah, he does that to everyone." Jimmy turned and yet, opened up the door anyway because he was planning on leaving immediately after sharing with Pete what Gary told him. He could remember it clearly, a little too clearly and was actually a bit caught off guard. "Pete, if you really want to know, Gary's got this big plan going on and it's difficult to put into words without making it sound even more ridiculous than it is. But he told me that, way deep down, he somehow l-"

As difficult as it was to acknowledge, Pete could feel his heart speed up as he heard the words come from Jimmy. He kind of found it understandable that Gary had another big scheme up his sleeve **again**, and yes...there was no way that any sane person could put it's affects and workings into description. When his ears detected an "L", he was sure that the pumping would be overheard. There was certain words that began with an "L" and he knew one in particular that he would have killed to hear.

Not much later, Jimmy was cut off from finishing when Gary himself managed to burst into the room making his grand entrance at more or less horrible time. He pushed aside Jimmy and walked in, looking very annoyed as if he heard what he was trying to say.

Pete could only wonder...if Gary had been listening this entire time. And if he was...fuck. He probably knew exactly how he felt right now if he had been eavesdropping like he tended to do often. So he just remained silent and unresponsive to the fact the main topic himself came in.

"Jimmy, that wasn't part of the plan!" Gary scolded, setting his furious on Jimmy and tapping a finger to his chest. "If I wanted feme boy to know the truth this early, I would have told him sooner!"

Instead of bringing Pete into the topic, Jimmy slyly avoided him by prompting a very important question of, "Have you been standing outside the door this whole time?"

"Yeah, I arrived and started listening when he said something about you not telling anyone something." For the record, Gary didn't know what he was referring to. But he didn't focus on that either, because he seemed far more concerned over the fact that Jimmy was giving him away this early of a stage in the big plan. "Who cares about that now? The point here is that it's way too early to tell him that!"

For once, Pete decided to confront Gary up front about something. And didn't really back down when he folded his arms against his chest and caught his attention. "What was Jimmy about to tell me? And kind of plan is going on here?"

Furious about the unplanned twist that he couldn't restore to normal, Gary lost any restrain that he had on not being honest about everything and turned to Pete with the most crazy look in his eyes. He grasped his shoulders very roughly, his nails digging in as if to make sure he didn't go anywhere.

"What...?" Pete's arms fell back to his sides and he could only swallow and blush when Gary moved in very close to his face as if he was about to...kiss him. And he probably would have for some reason at that moment.

Gary knew that the plan had to be in perfect place. Otherwise, it would have all been for nothing. And even though Jimmy was about to go the undesired route and tell Pete everything, he needed to skip a step, and carefully wait for the backup to make everything take a vicious swerve back into place would go in effect. So, he leaned in close to Pete's face and despite Jimmy's mild discomfort with watching this in the background, he was gradual in getting closer and closer to his lips. Knowing that he was really getting Pete going now and he just had to be as slow and teasing as ever until...

Interrupting the strange moment, greaser Johnny Vincent burst in and he was soon followed by his girlfriend Lola Lombardi.

Noticing how panicked they both seemed to be, the three looked over at them. Only Jimmy and Pete were bewildered by their sudden appearance. Gary didn't seem at all surprised.

Lola was the first to regain her breath. She was obviously trying to not seem as panicked as Johnny as she quickly informed the three, "There's-there's a fire in one of the greasers' garages! We don't know who started it, but it could spread fast and we rushed over here to find a fire extinguisher!"

"A fire?" Jimmy asked, wondering how that could have happened considering the greaser clique inhabited that area of Bullworth Academy and no one else passed through there. The greasers tended to never be careless like that.

"Peanut was the first to discover the fire, now he's warning everyone else to move out and he has a good idea as to who started it..." Lola's eyes darted straight to Jimmy. She instructed Johnny to get the extinguisher before storming up to the newest student and glaring into his eyes. "You did it, Hopkins! Lately I've seen you and Gary sneak into our territory and cause trouble among us!"

"Hey, I didn't do anything." Jimmy defended. Lola wasn't convinced at all, the anger written on her face as more present than ever. "I haven't even been through there in weeks, you can't blame me for the fire, Lola."

Johnny returned into the room, and although he was initially angered by the sight of Lola so close to Jimmy, he returned to the situation at hand and heaved the fire extinguisher had had been resting on a wall outside of the dorm. He had overheard his girlfriend's accusations and Jimmy's denying. "I don't believe 'em for a second! Lola, don't listen to that damn lying-"

"Hey, everyone," Gary interjected, separating from Pete and sliding up to Johnny's side. "I doesn't matter who started what, all that matters is that there's a fire blazing that could easily spread and do some damage. Personally, I would blame Jimmy right now...but we don't have evidence."

Despite knowing how dangerous the situation was, Johnny wasn't about to let anyone that he deemed guilty off the hook. He turned to Gary, glowering because he had too seen him slip in the do things like spill marbles, helping Jimmy set off a hundred firecrackers, and liked to spread lies and turn people against each other.

But before he could blame Gary too, Lola pulled the fire extinguisher from his grasp and ran out of the room back to where the fire was burning. Johnny soon followed because he didn't her to get into any danger; she may be a bit of a slut, but he still cared about her regardless.

This left a stunned Pete, a confused Jimmy, and a hell of an entertained Gary in the room.

"I don't understand what's going on," Pete recovered from his shock over all that had just happened with Gary coming so close as if he was going to kiss him right there and then a sudden fire in the greaser territory which caused Johnny and Lola to burst in and kill the mood... "This seems a bit suspicious. And, Gary, what are you talking about with plans and Jimmy...can you explain yourself?"

"Petey, Petey, there's nothing to explain – yet." Gary said with a mischievous smirk that didn't help in calming Pete down. He knew that something was definitely going on.

It made too much sense the way it fell together: he walked in on Gary telling Jimmy about a prank that he was planning for the New Year's party – which seemed to spell out how he really felt about the both of them or lack thereof, causing him to become deeply affected and release his emotions in his room, then Jimmy tracked him down mentioning that Gary said something he thought he should hear, Gary finally enters and breaks them up – "that wasn't part of the plan!", Gary tries to bring him to a trance by coming teasingly close as if to attempt to steal a kiss, and then a fire springs up and the greasers are in a state of hysteria. It all seemed to merge into something...something that Pete knew he had to reveal. He had to get Gary to tell the truth for once in his life, if he had some other big plan in the works that was falling just the way he wanted it to. Because he wouldn't put it past him.

Damn, how attractive that insane and cunning side of him could be sometimes...

But, right now, attraction didn't matter. Pete didn't let Gary or Jimmy by after they tried to rush out of the room to, quote, "tell Crabblesnitch", unquote. He closed the door and firmly pressed his back to it. With his arms folded against his chest and his expression showing how suspicious he was, it was apparent that Pete wasn't going anywhere.

And Gary tried unsuccessfully to move him aside, to shockingly no avail. After the last protest and vulgar comments, he stepped back over to Jimmy and returned the annoyed expression.

Now it seemed like his plans were getting more screwed. And he hadn't prepared a second fallback.

What Pete and Jimmy didn't realize was; Gary was contemplating two different options he already planned out beforehand about week ago to be scarily exact. His two options in case his fallback occurred in the event the tactic of Jimmy talking to Pete failed were 1( abort everything like a fool and then admit to Pete everything too soon. Or 2( Forget about what he was plotting to go down on New Year's Eve and pull him into a kiss right then and there only to distract the boy into letting him make his getaway.

And damn, the both of those options seemed too ideal the longer that Gary stood there and met those fierce and yet emotion-clouded eyes. What to do, what to do...

_**To Be Continued In Chapter 5**_

_**. . .**_

**Yes, it ends there at a cliffhanger because that's one of my most favorite ways to wrap up an eventful chapter. Call me evil, but I'll just confess that this is the way I roll. Hopefully, the next update won't take quite as long as this one did.**

**I had written this chapter late at night on the first of March and didn't get to publish it until now. Would have done it that night/morning but after writing the To Be Continued part, I was just like "Fuck this, I'm tired and I don't get much sleep anyway." I'm uh...I'm a grouchy person when I'm tired, and in my defense, that was not said out of carelessness. Please excuse me if it was a bit rushed.**

**Read and review!**

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**


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